The five stages of Kyle Quincey

Ken: I would have appreciated some sort of sign. Tell a reporter in the know, drop a hint to Mickey Redmond, have Mike Commodore send out an errant, Bill-Simmons-esque, “quincey red wings” tweet. I spent over 2,000 words breaking down the Red Wings trade targets. I spend hours looking at terrible rumors. Not once did it cross my mind that Kyle Quincey could return to Detroit.

All I’m saying is, Ken, if you really loved the blog (and I know you do), you could have given a little heads up.

After all, I had two separate Tampa Bay defensemen I thought Lightning GM Steve Yzerman could move to Detroit. Somehow he managed to send an Avalanche defenseman there instead.

If you don’t know what happened by now here’s a quick rundown. Ken Holland tried to get Quincey from Colorado. The Avalanche didn’t like any cards Holland was laying down. That’s when Yzerman started dealing. He knew he could get Quincey, called Holland and asked “Are you interested?” according to USA Today. Holland (I can’t pretend to be him anymore since I failed so spectacularly at it) said he was, Yzerman made the two deals, and BAM! Kyle Quincey was back in Detroit, Emeril Laggasse style.

It all happened so fast. I’m sure you, like me, couldn’t process it. Let’s work through the stages of the trade together.

HOLY CRAP WHAT JUST HAPPENED? So Tampa Bay traded a player and then just traded him again? It’s Kyle Quincey to Detroit? For a first round pick? What? And a prospect? Who told you this? I won’t believe until Bob McKenzie tweets it. Oh, he already did? OK. So this is really going, eh? Wow. This is too crazy. I think I just punched myself.

WHY? WHY? WHY? Ken Holland jumped into an inflated market when he said he didn’t want to and gave up a high draft pick when he said he didn’t want to. The best (or worst) part is that he did so to get back a guy he put on waivers just three and a half years ago. It’s not a typical Ken Holland move. He drafted Quincey in the fourth round in 2003 and, for all intents and purposes, drafted him again in the 1st round in 2012. Kyle Quincey couldn’t beat out Derek Meech for a roster spot. I don’t get this at all. Does Holland know it’s the same Kyle Quincey? AND he’s a free agent after this season.

SO IT ISN’T THAT BAD. OK, so he’s a restricted free agent. That makes it a little better. At 26, he should be in Detroit for longer than just one year. Yes, the market is inflated. Yes it’s a steep price. But rental players were fetching first and second-round picks. Ken Holland made the team better now and in the future for less than market price.

OK, HE’S KIND OF GOOD. So apparently he’s gotten better since he was waived. Maybe the Meech over Quincey thing had the same effect as when Michael Jordan got cut from his high-school basketball team for some scrub who never made it past the 11th grade. Qunicey logged over 22 minutes a game for the Avalanche. He’s got a respectable 23 points on the season and can play the power play. He’s a solid 4th or 5th defensemen.

Plus, everyone feels a lot better now that Holland put everything in perspective. He told the Windsor Star’s Bob Duff: “The time is now. That first round pick, if it’s a good pick, he’ll play in Detroit five years from now.”

It’s funny cause it’s true.

Kyle Quincey eats Cap'n Crunch out of the Stanley Cup because he can

KYLE QUINCEY, NOW AND FOREVER: What a great freakin trade. It’s not a deep draft and with the Red Wings picking that late, it’s not like they’re missing out a superstar.

In exchange, you’re getting the guy who could log 20 minutes a night and play both sides of special teams, plus he knows what it’s like to be in Detroit. You know what, I feel like he could replace Brad Stuart and Nicklas Lidstrom. That Kyle Quincey/Michael Jordan comparison isn’t out of the question. He is the next great Red Wings defensemen. The defense is pretty much set for the next five years: Quincey, Kronwall, White, Kindl, Ericsson and Brendan Smith. Lock it in. Game over. Building for the future at the trade deadline, the time when everybody else is searching for help in the present. It’s a humbling move by Holland. He didn’t let a mistake in the past turn into a mistake in the present.